A Kiwi woman who wanted to access her KiwiSaver on grounds of series illness has been denied access to the fund, despite her rare disease being terminal and preventing her from returning to work.
In 2015 Kirsten Bangs was living in Australia when she was diagnosed with Felty's Syndrome, a rare autoimmune condition that is treatable, however incurable.
Eight years on, now living in New Zealand and having driven the disease into remission in 2021, her symptoms reawakened after she contracted Covid last year, prompting her to seek new medical options.
"My rheumatologist referred me to see immunology at Auckland Hospital, there's three [immunologists] in the country that manage all of the patients needing to see them," Bangs told Breakfast this morning.
"It was suggested I trial an immune therapy called pembrolizumab, but I would still be waiting six months before I could see an immunologist to trial that."
As it is a trial treatment, pembrolizumab is an unfunded drug and comes at a personal cost of $100,000 per year.
"[To help pay for it] a good friend of mine created a GiveALittle page for me and I spent an hour on there with my husband looking at some of the stories... they're all the same, people saving for drugs they can't afford, people saving for life-saving surgeries overseas."
Bangs applied for an early withdrawal from her BNZ KiwiSaver account on the grounds of serious illness, however was declined.
"I wanted things to be easy, I spoke to the KiwiSaver team at my bank as well before I did it, they actually advised me that applying under serious illness was my best option given the circumstances.
"My doctor signed the paperwork, we've supplied evidence and [yet] been declined. [It's] frustrating, I'm not applying for trauma cover with my insurance or anything like that. I'm applying to get my own money out that I've been saving for since I started the workforce."
In a statement to Breakfast, BNZ said decisions on serious illness withdrawals from KiwiSaver "are made by scheme supervisors rather than scheme providers like BNZ".
"Supervisors make these decisions based on strict eligibility criteria set out in legislation that leave little room for interpretation. Given how stringent the criteria are, a large weight is placed on the information by doctors," it read.
One of the criteria for withdrawing KiwiSaver funds to treat a serious illness is that the patient needs to prove they will never be able to work again without treatment. In Bangs' case, her doctor wrote that she "may never" be able to return to work.
"They're expecting my GP to bring a crystal ball to work," Bangs said. "We don't know how I'm going to respond to immune therapy. It could prolong my life, it might not. They're really challenging questions and I think they're unfair.
"If I'm not here anymore, it is easier for my family to apply for KiwiSaver for my funeral and burial costs than it is for me to save my life."
Financial Ombudsman Susan Taylor also joined the programme, saying the criteria for withdrawing KiwiSaver funds for medical treatment are "very strict".
"You have to be at risk of imminent death, and generally that's been interpreted as having an illness which means you will likely die within the next 12 months," she said.
"We know that many doctors, even with people who have terminal cancer, are unwilling to sign off on saying they will be dead within 12 months.
"Otherwise you have to prove you are totally and permanently... unable to work again in the occupation you are suited to by educational training.
"The way the supervisor is likely viewing it [in Bangs' case] is that there's not sufficient proof that she's totally and permanently unable to work again."
Taylor could not comment on if the law should be amended, but said the strict conditions could be amended by policymakers the next the time the KiwiSaver Act is under review.
It is understood by Breakfast that BNZ has been in contact with Bangs and will reexamine her case.
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